Dons, Broncos hoping to show

Frank Blackman, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, February 15, 2000

USF and Santa Clara will be playing for more than just Bay Area bragging rights this week.

When the traditional rivals meet in a home-and-home series that begins Wednesday night at Memorial Gym and concludes at Toso Pavilion on Friday night, they also will be trying to position themselves for the West Coast Conference tournament.

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Broncos and San Diego are tied for third place in the league, both at 6-4. USF is a game behind at 5-5. Since co-leaders Gonzaga and Pepperdine, both 9-1, are all but out of reach, the goal for USF and Santa Clara is to finish in third place in the conference.

To claim the automatic NCAA bid that goes to the tournament victor, a team has to win three games in three days, a difficult task under any circumstances. But it becomes even tougher if all three games are grueling.

Whichever team finishes third will play the sixth-place team in the opening round, either Portland or St. Mary's. Both the Pilots and Gaels are struggling this season, and the expectation is that on a neutral court - Toso Pavilion - either will have trouble advancing.

The first-round game between the fourth- and fifth-place teams figures to be a war. USF already has split with San Diego, as has Santa Clara. Neither local team relishes the idea of playing the Toreros again. And if USF and Santa

Clara are rematched in the tournament, it still will require an all-out effort to move on.

Worn out by a difficult game, the winner could be easy pickings the next night in the semifinals, most likely against Pepperdine.

"It's all about position right now and how high you can get in the conference," Santa Clara coach Dick Davey said. "You have a chance to play a team that isn't quite as solid at this stage of the season."

USF has the tougher task this week. To move ahead of the Broncos, it needs a sweep.

"It's really hard (to do)," USF coach Phil Mathews said. "That's why it's very important to win the home game. Last year, Santa Clara beat us here, then went down there and won again."

It doesn't qualify as an upset when the Broncos win at Memorial, their home away from home. Since basketball resumed at USF in 1985, Santa Clara is 11-3 against the Dons there.

"That's probably because they've had better teams," Mathews said. "Dick's had some pretty good players over there. Hopefully, we can end that. But we beat them down there quite a bit. It goes back and forth."

Mathews has a point. Counting the tournament, USF has won seven of the last 13 times it's played at Toso.

The matchup between the teams this week is intriguing. It's

the equivalent of a boxer against a puncher.

"It's our inside strength against their perimeter," Mathews said. "They have a very good perimeter game. They have to contain us inside. It will be a test of who can do what he does best."

Although the 15-10 Broncos have been an erratic shooting team all year, if guards Brian Jones (13.2 points a game) and Nathan Fast (14.1) get hot, they can punish an opponent. Jones presents additional problems because he is outstanding off the dribble and has the tools to drive right by a man attempting to take away his outside shot.

USF, 17-6 overall, is at its best in the paint. Center Kenyon Jones is averaging 17.1 points and 9.2 boards a game, both tops in the WCC. Freshman strong forward Darrell Tucker scored a career-high 21 points in each of the Dons' victories at San Diego and St. Mary's last weekend. The two men present problems for any team, but especially for one like Santa Clara that doesn't have much bulk on its front line.

And the Broncos will be tested inside because Mathews intends to make sure the ball goes down low as often as possible. The Dons have had a personality readjustment since beginning conference play by losing four of their first six games.

"We've discovered we're an inside team," the coach said. "If you

look at our stats, we took 11 threes in the last game. That's it. Before, we were taking 19 and 20 threes a game. Our power is inside with Tucker and Jones."

The teams that have been successful against USF in conference double- and sometimes even triple-teamed Jones, forcing him to make decisions with the ball. Davey, however, doesn't think a collapsing defense in the paint is necessarily the way to go.

"Some people do it that way," Davey said. "From our perspective, I hate to give up anything. Yeah, it can be an advantage to double sometimes. But it creates other problems (open shots elsewhere and on the boards). It's a

Catch-22.

"We have to be fundamentally sound. We have to screen them off the boards and anticipate shots. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't." &lt;

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.